Tags
canine body language, food aggression, formosan mountain dog, meetups, shiba 500, taiwan dogs, tugou
We already had two strikes this month in our attempts to attend the annual Shiba Inu Picnic (missed due to lost leash) and the NorCal Basenji Fun Day (afternoon events canceled due to extreme heat). I didn’t say much in advance of this year’s Taiwan tugou / Formosan Mountain Dog meetup for fear of jinxing things. However, last Saturday, we were finally able to catch one of the events we had planned for the month — Formosa-pa-looza 2012, organized by the same people who put together last year‘s event.
As usual when we attend meetups, I trotted the Bows around the other side of the park to expend a bit of energy before throwing them into the crowd. Far from the rendezvous point, we encountered a dog that looked like he belonged to the group. Turns out that this beautiful brindle, Cooler, had not come specifically for the meetup, but he was a Taiwan dog rescue.
Just goes to show how prevalent they are around here! You’ll run into these Formosans without even trying.
Then as we looped around the other side of the park, we ran into another regular, Asu, whom we know to be a Taiwan rescue. I had mentioned the meetup to Asu’s people earlier, so they knew to be there that day. But apparently Asu was much more eager to playplayplay, and it was harder to do that in the main crowd where sandwiches were distracting would-be wrestling partners.
So they sought out more open turf, and Asu lost no time making connections.
Having been forewarned that food was going to be present, I lingered for a while and thought to give the main party a chance to finish up their lunches before we wandered over. I know that Bowdu can be unpredictable in the presence of high value [human] food, to say nothing of all the other personality quirks that come with “primitive” breeds in general. Indeed, once we got to the main group, we witnessed some posturing and canine body language that looked very familiar…
Many (though certainly not all) of these Taiwan dog rescues had a stint of life on the streets. No doubt that scrounging, defending one’s space, and resource guarding become deeply ingrained habits that are not easily forgotten.
Or maybe they’re just dogs being dogs.
At least we didn’t encounter any real bad behavior, even when the treats came out.
Anyway, it was a pretty sizeable crowd, but widely dispersed, with a broader mix of dogs in comparison to last year’s “typier” representatives. There was plenty of action all around, and I’m happy to have briefly shared the company of some interesting dogs.
Bambi (L), Laser (R)
We recognized this little lady from last year from her distinctive red harness and the shape of her flying ear tips.
Annie
Bowdu was also inspired to go off on a Shiba 500 that lasted about six laps…
… before he finally collapsed in the shade, too tuckered out to follow along during the pack walk.
So we broke off from the rest of the pack and headed home.
This won’t be the last we’ve seen of this crew!
These dogs are really cool. I’d probably have one if I lived down there.
can i just ask WHY OH WHY do people serve/bring food to meet ups of large groups of dogs? it never ends well.
gorgeous dogs though.
There is actually a small cafe that sells sandwiches and drinks at the other end of this massive dog park that we seldom go to. I wonder if they see lots of incidences of dogs duking it out over crumbs. Surely they see a lot of begging behavior.
I think it’s tolerated as “You take your own risks” around here… but for me, I can’t really take the risk. And unfortunately, I think a lot of people mainly consider the risk between their *own* dogs (“Well, my dog can handle it.”), and not necessarily to humans should they get injured trying to break up a real fight over food (other people’s unpredictable dogs who are inevitably lured over by the promise of free handouts).
Sure, I can understand food spreads for all day events… but I take that as my cue to join the event well after lunch.
My dog park’s got written rules against eating, drinking, and smoking in it. People bring food, alcohol (usually beer), smokes, more than two dogs (guilty), kids under 12, and various other “prohibited” things anyways. Nobody really cares, unless one of these things causes a problem. One of the regulars routinely brings his pipe, but he’s a super nice guy and will stop smoking if you ask him to.
Yeah Bella would have to wait it out she resource guards around food. Saya she is fine with since she knows Saya’s scream will come out if sai isn’t happy. haha
I just love your dog park Saya would have blast there. She tends like my yard and field over our dog park since it’s smaller compared to Madison WI’s token creek dog park or the one you go to.
I love your dog pictures of coarse very neat breed.
Saya mainly gets defensive with her space bubble..
We feel the same way about food as mishaps tend to happen with Shio under those circumstances. The photos showcasing the variety of dogs are incredible and I love the last one of everyone walking over the hill into the horizon!